West Ham owners have been under huge pressure from fans to sack Allardyce but
club announces he will keep his job with need for more entertainment

Sam Allardyce will stay in charge as West Ham United manager, with the club insisting on "improvements to ensure the team provides more entertainment next season".

West Ham finally cleared up the uncertainty surrounding Allardyce’s position on Tuesday with a statement that reflected the huge pressure the manager was under from supporters.

The 59-year-old met with co-owner David Sullivan last week for a scheduled post-season debrief and was expecting to discover his fate on Friday when the board reconvene to discuss next season’s transfer budget.

Allardyce's job had appeared under grave threat but West Ham’s board have held extensive talks over the past seven days and are prepared to honour his contract which has one year remaining.

Sullivan and fellow co-owner David Gold said: "We have a very clear vision of how we want West Ham United to operate under our joint ownership. Although not everybody understands the West Ham way, we do and we respect it as we have been supporters all our lives. We believe this is about a philosophy that is not just about the style of play, but the whole ethos that surrounds the Club.

"Sam was asked to give us a detailed presentation on his vision for next season and during this he assured us that he can deliver that ethos to West Ham United and we have agreed to support him with the resources that he needs. We have mapped out a way forward with him that will ensure our much-deserving fans have more to cheer about next season.

"We should also stress, though, that while improvements do need to be made, Sam deserves credit for the job he has done thus far after securing promotion in his first year and two respectable Premier League finishes in the two years thereafter. We have also seen the likes of Mark Noble, James Tomkins and Winston Reid all make huge progress under his management, which in turn contributed to our impressive record of 14 clean sheets last season.

"The truly historic opportunity of a move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016 forms a major part of our five-year strategy to take this club forward and, while we have a duty to make sure we stay in the Premier League, we also want to make sure the performances on the pitch will befit a team playing in such a world-renowned stadium."

The decision will represent a bold move considering the weight of opposition towards him from supporters. Allardyce was targeted last season over his style of play, tactics and signings and West Ham’s board had been becoming concerned by the growing number of disenchanted fans.

A number of his high-profile signings, including Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Matt Jarvis, have also failed to frequently impress and the club’s wage bill is now believed to be around the £55million mark.

But Allardyce has still secured Premier League survival two seasons running and West Ham cannot face the prospect of relegation next year as they prepare to move into a new stadium.

Allardyce will be assured of funds this summer, with at least one forward to be targeted in a bid to ease the pressure on Carroll.

He said: "I look forward to taking the club forward and improving the squad for next season to try and achieve the plans we have set out in our very productive meeting last week."